6i8 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the picture, becomes in proportion 

 to its truth an element of value. 

 Mr. Swift, very bold and like the an- 

 cient prophet, says plainly : " Harm- 

 less books in general are mediocre 

 books; if a new note in morals or 

 society is struck, the suggestion of 

 a possible iujuriousness at once 

 arises." 



Taken as a whole, Mr. Swift's 

 paper is a strong plea for individ- 

 ualism and liberty. As such we have 

 felt it a duty to call attention to it, 

 and we trust that it will in some 

 way obtain a more general circula- 

 tion than can be afforded by the 

 useful, but somewhat technical, col- 

 umns of the Library Journal. 



"^XKQnxtnts xrt ^cijetxj:je. 



Longevity of Whales. — Some light 

 was tluown, a few years ago, upon the 

 subject of the vitality of whales by find- 

 ing one of these animals in Bering Sea, 

 in 1890, with a "toggle" harpoon head in 

 its body bearing the mark of the Ameri- 

 can whaler Montezuma. That vessel was 

 engaged in whaling in Bering Sea about 

 ten years, but not later than 1854. She 

 was afterward sold to the Government, 

 and was sunk in Charleston Harbor 

 during the civil war to serve as an ob- 

 struction. Hence, it is estimated, the 

 whale must have carried the harpoon 

 not less than thirty-six years. In con- 

 nection with this fact, Mr. William H. 

 Dall gives an account, in the National 

 Geographic Magazine, of a discussion 

 with Captain E. P. Herendeen, of the 

 United States National Museum, of 

 cases of whales that have been supposed 

 to have made their way from Greenland 

 waters to Bering Strait, and to have 

 been identified by the harpoons they 

 carried. While it is very likely that 

 the whale really makes the passage, an 

 uncertainty must always be allowed, foi- 

 ships were often changing ownership and 

 their tools were sold and put on board 

 of other vessels, and harpoon irons were 

 sometimes given or traded to Eskimos. 

 It therefore becomes possible that the 

 animal was struck with a second-hand 

 iron. 



Solidification of Hydrogen. — As 

 soon as he was able to obtain liquid 

 hydrogen in manageable quantities, in 

 the fall of 1S98, Mr. James Dewar began 

 experiments for its solidification. The 

 apparatus he used was like that em- 

 ployed in other solidification experi- 



ments, consisting of a small vacuum test- 

 tube, containing the hydrogen, placed in 

 a larger vessel of the same kind, with 

 excess of the hydrogen partly filling the 

 circular space between the two tubes. No 

 solidification was produced, and the ef- 

 fort was suspended for a time, while the 

 author attacked other problems. The 

 experiments were renewed in 1899, 

 with the advantage of more knowledge 

 concerning reductions of temperature 

 brought about by reduction of pressure. 

 A slight leak of air in the apparatus 

 was observed, which was frozen into an 

 air snow when it met the cold vapor of 

 hydrogen coming off, and this leak at a 

 particular point of pressure caused a 

 sudden solidification of the liquid hydro- 

 gen into a mass like frozen foam. An 

 apparatus was then arranged that could 

 be overturned, so' that if any of the hy- 

 drogen was still liquid it would run out. 

 None ran out, but by the aid of a strong 

 light on the side of the apparatus oppo- 

 site the ej'e the hydrogen was seen as 

 a solid ice in the lower part, while the 

 surface looked frothy. The melting 

 point of hydrogen ice was determined 

 at about 16° or 17° absolute (-257° or 

 —256° C). The solid seemed to possess 

 the properties of the non-metallic ele- 

 ments rather than of the metals, among 

 which it has been usual to class hy- 

 drogen. 



The Gegenschein. — ]\Inch interest 

 prevails among astronomers at present 

 concerning the question of the nature of 

 the Oenctiftchcin. This German word, 

 which means " opposite shine," is ap- 

 plied to designate a small, somewhat 

 oblong, bright spot which is sometimes 



